Chapter 999. The Old Man, The Youth

Even now, though the Calamity Demon God was gravely wounded, the Abyss of Calamity enveloping him rendered him nearly invincible—leaving the 3 utterly powerless against him.

Seeing that she could not slay the Calamity Demon God, Lyra turned to Eldrin with a grave expression and said, "He is protected by the Demon Abyss, my husband. Do you have a way to cut him down?"

"Fear not, though the Abyss of Demons is formidable, it is not without its limits!"

Eldrin (Person Name) wore a placid expression, yet the moment his voice faded, a brilliant radiance erupted within the Violet Realm.

In the blink of an eye, boundless power of heaven and earth surged forth, ceaselessly beginning to confront the demonic abyss.

For tens of thousands of years, the Violet Realm had been suppressed by the Abyssal Demons. Though the Demon Gods had long used the power of the Abyss to imprison the Violet Realm, it was not without its means of resistance.

Now that the Outer Fiend had mobilized the Abyssal Depths to shield itself, the Abyssal Depths found it difficult to completely overwhelm the Violet Realm.

At this critical juncture of the great battle, the will of the Violet Realm's heavens and earth immediately counterattacked, as the raging power of the world began relentlessly suppressing the abyssal demonic force.

The Calamity Demon God sealed the Violet Realm with his own power, yet he never anticipated that this very act would result in the Abyssal Demonic Realm being restrained by the Violet Realm in turn.

Seizing the opportunity, Eldrin and the other 2 made their move. This time, their combined strike finally managed to shake the Abyssal Demonforce. To their astonishment, the protective demonic energy trembled faintly, its radiance flickering.

"Damn it!"

"Hold them off for me!"

He could also see that the situation was dire, and the Calamity Demon God momentarily revealed a look of panic.

In haste, he let out a furious roar that shook the boundless starry sky: "Children of the Demon Clan, come to my aid at once!"

As the voice of the Calamity Devil God faded, hundreds of millions of demons within the Devil Abyss burned with crimson eyes.

In that very instant, their life souls were seized, and they actually disregarded their own survival, pouring their vital essence and spiritual power into the Abyssal Demonic Chasm.

Although the cultivation levels of these demons were mostly not high, the demons in the Abyss were nearly countless. At the cost of their own lives, they actually caused the power of the Abyss to grow increasingly formidable.

With the infusion of countless trillions of demonic qi, blood essence, and magical power, the Demonic Abyss finally stabilized, even overwhelming the celestial forces of the Violet Realm.

"Merely drinking poison to quench 1's thirst!"

Faced with the Demon God's final madness, Eldrin remained expressionless, yet his gaze turned toward the Starry Battlefield.

Amidst the starry expanse, the war between humans and demons raged on with relentless intensity.

Countless great human masters joined forces, unleashing overwhelming magical power to strike in all directions, determined to slay hundreds of millions of demons and diminish the Abyss of Demons' formidable might.

"Slay—"

The battle raged on in the void, where humans and demons fought with near-delirious ferocity.

Eldrin gazed into the distance and saw blazing sword radiance erupting. Lin Tianqi unleashed a sword aura that spanned tens of thousands of miles, successively slaying 3 demonic race Primordial Spirits. Wherever the sword energy passed, hundreds of millions of demons were utterly annihilated.

Kael also unleashed his full power, golden Buddhist radiance blooming around him while purple Daoist essence swirled, further complemented by a demon heart that devoured all.

Amidst the great war, Kael carved a path through hundreds of millions of miles of starry skies, and in the process, unknowingly achieved a major breakthrough—cultivating 3 types of pseudo-Dao Fruits.

Above his head bloomed 3 celestial flowers, and upon each of these ethereal Dao Fruits, there seemed to sit a Buddha, a Dao Ancestor, and a Demon Sovereign in meditation.

Bolstered by these 3 Dao Fruits, although Kael had only just broken through to the half-immortal realm, his cultivation base nearly surpassed the limits of a half-immortal, proving even more astonishing than Lin Tianqi's.

With a mere flick of his sleeve, he sent a sweeping palm strike forward, where the 3 supreme powers of Buddhism, Dao, and Demonic arts converged. Wherever it passed, the abyssal demonic realm was flattened for over a million miles.

Amidst the crowd, Maris the Sea Steader, the Li Fire Daoist, Dorian, and others were engaged in battle, while powerful spirits like Lila, Yan Purple Maiden, and Seraphina Qu were also sweeping through the cataclysm.

But that was not all. From within those celestial rifts, 1 Eldrin after another and Dao Lords streamed forth from the Violet Realm, all converging to partake in the final battle destined to quell this cataclysm.

Eldrin saw Chen Changxuan, he saw Chen Silas, he saw the 5 Venoms Young Master, and he saw the Li Fire Vermilion Bird.

He saw the young cultivator fighting desperately while bathed in blood, slaying formidable foes against all odds. He also witnessed peak-stage cultivators in their prime striking across all directions, charging deep into the abyssal demon realm despite their grievous wounds.

At this very moment, whether human or demon, regardless of cultivation level, every soul was desperately slaying demons, striving to contribute their final measure of strength toward quelling the cataclysm.

Amidst the chaos, some met their end in brutal combat, while others wielded sword energy that cut through all in its path. Yet more, bearing wounds and scars, still marched onward to face their doom.

Kill!

A white-haired elder, his life force utterly depleted, squeezed out the last trace of his magical power. With a final desperate strike, he slew the demon before him and rescued the youth at his side. Yet this act left him like a lamp with no oil, teetering on the brink of extinction.

Beside him, a young man with a pale face supported the elderly figure with trembling hands, his voice choked with terror and dread as he cried out, "Ancestor, Ancestor!"

"Fear not, child."

The white-haired elder hunched over, as if clinging to his last breath.

His wrinkled old face was full of kindness as he gently stroked the youthful cheek of the boy beside him and smiled. "A 1000 years ago, when I was your age, I witnessed the birth of an immortal with my own eyes."

"Now that I have the chance to personally intervene in quelling this calamity, I can truly say I have no regrets in this life."

The old man gazed at the youth, and in a fleeting moment of reverie, he seemed to witness the conversation between himself and the Patriarch upon that solitary boat from ages past.

In the blink of an eye, 1 1000 years had passed. The patriarch of old had long returned to dust, yet he had now become someone like that patriarch himself. The person before him bore such a striking resemblance to who he had been all those years ago.

"Ancestral Elder..."

The young man wept bitterly, his pupils filled with indescribable agony.

The Elder Ancestor's childhood exploits were tales he had heard countless times. What he admired most was how the Elder Ancestor, then merely a youth, had followed the former clan leader across the Endless Eastern Sea and witnessed the birth of an immortal with his own eyes.

All these years, he had only listened to these tales as stories. But now, having personally experienced the cataclysm and witnessed the Patriarch die to save him, his heart grew increasingly adrift.

"Do not waver, do not be lost."

The old cultivator shook his head and smiled wryly, "Our Patriarch has attained the Golden Core realm, with a lifespan of barely over a 1000 years. To have witnessed the birth of an immortal with his own eyes and taken part in quelling the great calamity—this counts as the greatest glory of his lifetime."

"Yet for us cultivators, if we cannot attain immortality, a 1000 years would be but a fleeting cloud in the eyes of immortals."

"You are still young, your path is long, and I hope you can walk it well, step by step."

"I hope you can surpass me, surpass the Patriarch of old, and no longer remain trapped in the Golden Core realm..."

The old cultivator's voice gradually faded, ultimately dissipating into nothingness.

The young man stood in stunned silence, his vacant gaze gradually clearing at last. He threw his arms around the old cultivator, then gritted his teeth and advanced with sword in hand, ready to resume the unfinished battle.

Just then, an elderly man with silver hair took hold of him, shaking his head as he said, "You are still young, and the road ahead stretches long before you."

"Live well, and do not let his sacrifice be in vain."

"This campaign, I shall carry on in your stead..."

Within the vast demonic abyss, divine abilities, Daoist arts, magical treasures, and immortal swords clashed in a grand melee, engulfing all in a life-and-death struggle.

Eldrin stood silently beneath the celestial dome, taking in everything before him as his heart grew still.

"With the strength of an entire realm, they withstood the cataclysm spanning 86,000 years."

"All of you have lived lives worthy of the Violet Realm that nurtured you."

"This great calamity should come to an end."

Eldrin murmured softly, stepping forward with serene composure as he ascended into the heavens.

－－－－－－Off-topic－－－－－－

Chapter 1,000: Slaying the Demon God. This number is quite fitting, serving as a perfect conclusion to the Mortal Realm Arc.